And I Was Like
by Pecore-Nere
Summary: When Ed entered Roy's office this morning, a very different tune was playing on the radio… And he found a very different Roy listening and singing to it.


**Disclaimer : I do not own Fullmetal Alchemist or its characters.**

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Ed yawned as he walked through the Central headquarters. It was almost empty, since it was only seven in the morning after all. Behind him, Al walked along, wobbling slightly. After years of living as an armor suit, he found it a little awkward to walk on his own two feet again. The sound of their steps echoed through the empty corridors as they headed to Roy's new office as a General. After the Promised Day, two years ago, a new Fuhrer had been appointed – that old man Grumman – and Roy had been appointed as a General.

Being unable to do alchemy anymore, naturally Ed was no longer a State Alchemist, although there had been no discussion about that. Besides, Al had returned to his own body so there really is no point to stay as one. So, Edward merely returned there to return his State Alchemist watch and say good bye to his former colleagues before he left Amestris to the West to study more about alchemy.

"Brother… Are you sure General Mustang has already arrived?" Al asked his brother, enjoying the pleasant feeling of air hissing through his throat. It had been so many years since he felt that sensation.

"Yeah, of course. I already told him I'll come early today," Ed replied, grinning to himself. "I'll kill him if he hadn't arrived."

"What about Riza-san?"

"Oh, she always comes early. Don't worry about it."

"Oh, okay."

Just as they approached Roy's new office on the end of the corridor, suddenly Riza came out from the office. "Ah, Edward, Alphonse," She smiled sadly as she greeted them. "Here to say goodbye?"

"Ah, yeah… Sort of…" Ed scratched the back of his head. He really felt uncomfortable with this whole goodbye thing. Despite the fact that it was his own choice to leave Amestris to research about alchemy, he just couldn't help but to feel a little bit sad. And he had to leave Winry too…

Edward's cheeks blushed considerably as he thought about Winry. Shaking his head to remove that stupid blush from his cheeks, he asked Riza, "Is Mustang inside?"

Riza stiffened slightly, brushing her short blonde hair. "Yes, he's inside. You should go and… Talk to him," She replied awkwardly.

"Is something wrong?" Alphonse asked with concern.

"No, it's nothing serious. It's just that… He's a little weird this morning," Riza answered, her eyebrows knitted together and her lips tugged to form a frown.

"How..?" Ed asked her curiously. "I mean, weirder than usual?"

"You should go and see for yourself," Riza smiled as she stepped away from the handsome teak door to make way for them to come in. Now that Ed noticed, there was some really… weird music blaring from inside the office.

"Yeah, thanks Riza…" Ed thanked her vaguely as he tried to identify that odd music. Riza smiled as she walked away. Indistinctly, Ed could hear her muttering something like, "I _can't believe _he's listening to that sort of music… Had he accidentally transmutated his own sense of hearing somehow..?"

"Brother..? Come on, let's just go inside," Al cleared his throat to get Ed's attention back.

"What..? Oh, yeah! Come on," Ed broke away from his thoughts and he held the handle of the door. Taking a deep breath, slowly he opened the door.

Booming music greeted the two brothers, nearly knocking Ed off his feet. The music was a very weird kind of music he had never heard before. The singer's voice was high-pitched, almost like a girl's. And, humming along to the blaring music was none other than General Roy Mustang himself.

"Ah, Fullmetal! Alphonse too!" Roy grinned mockingly from his leather seat. "I've been waiting for you two. Come in, come in!"

Covering his ears to prevent the music from ruining his eardrums, Ed trotted cautiously into the office. "_What _is this blaring music all about, Mustang?" Edward hissed with disgust. "For Gate's sake, it's only seven in the morning!"

"What did you just say?" Roy feigned innocence. "Just because you're no longer a State Alchemist, that doesn't mean you can just treat me with that utter disrespect, Fullmetal. Such an abomination…"

"Oh, then why are you still calling me Fullmetal?" Ed mocked him, still covering his ears.

"That's simple. You still have a chunk of iron as your left leg, Fullmetal. Acknowledge it," Roy chuckled as he ruffled his recently changed hairstyle. It was combed backwards, creating a somewhat formal air to his appearance.

Chuckling as he watched the two quarrel, Al sat on the comfy sofa in the middle of the room. Ed followed him, still growling at Roy's last remark. As they sat, the radio that sat on Roy's desk blared, "And that's the request from Miss Maria Rose from Central! And our next request came from Rush Valley…"

"Really, Mustang. What is that music you're playing?" Alphonse asked curiously.

"Did you like it?" Roy asked eagerly, his eyes glimmering with excitement.

"Nah, no way in hell. It sounded… weird," Ed snapped before Al could reply.

"Ah, here's another one. Listen, Fullmetal," Roy ignored Ed's remark and turned the radio volume up. Suddenly, a weird music started playing. It was the same singer as the previous one. Through his covered ears, Ed could hear the lyrics vaguely.

'_You know you love me, I know you care__... __Just shout whenever, and I'll be there..._'

"Tell me, please. Is the singer a guy or a girl..?" Ed asked, his eyebrows furrowed as he tried to distinguish the lyrics between the booming beats.

"Seriously, Fullmetal. Can't you tell?"

"So... It's a girl?" Ed stated, slightly unsure.

"What? No! Of course it's a guy!" Roy looked taken aback by Ed's answer.

"Okay, enough of this joke. Tell me now, _who the hell is the singer_?" Ed barked impatiently, tapping the coffee table in front of him with his fingers.

"It's a singer called Justin Bieber! I just heard him on the radio a few days ago..." Roy stated matter-of-factly. "A lot of girls in Amestris are all over his music."

"They listen to this... This crap..?" Ed grimaced in disgust as Al couldn't hold back his laughter at the weird conversation happening in front of him.

"Hey, hey! Don't call this music crap, Fullmetal! His music is full of life lesson for guys!" Roy countered, looking disgruntled.

"You call this... this... singer a guy? Yeah, right," Ed scoffed.

"Listen to his voice, you can tell he's a guy alright!"

"Yeah, this thing I'm hearing is about as manly as Winry's singing... The faggiest crap I've ever heard, seriously," Ed mocked, not bothering to cover the tone of disgust in his voice.

Holding back his laughter, Al cleared his throat and asked Roy, "So tell me, Mustang-san. What exactly is the life lesson from this Bieber's music?"

Immediately, Roy turned to Al, ignoring Ed completely. "You see, Alphonse, the lyrics of his songs are just... inspirational. Take this one, for example." Roy gestured to the radio.

'_And I'm in pieces, baby fix me__... __And just shake me til' you wake me from this bad dream...'_

"Uuh, yeah..?" Al started awkwardly.

"What did you learn?" Roy asked him with starry eyes.

"Uhh..."

"See, Alphonse! The life lesson is, girls love to see men get weak! They think it's cute when men are on their knees," Roy stated, a smirk playing on his lips as if he had just discovered the key to win women's heart, or at least he thought he had. "And-"

"Seriously, Mustang. You're a General right now, only one level below Fuhrer, and all you're doing is _listening to some stupid teenager's music_?" Ed cut across Roy's sentence before he can spout anymore madness out of his mouth.

"This is serious, Fullmetal! Listening to his music had given me a new perspective on things!" Roy said indignantly. "In fact, I've gained a new knowledge about myself!"

"Which is..?" Ed replied, yawning hugely.

"I've just recently discovered the musical side in me!" Roy whispered, as if he had just told Ed that he just had sex with Riza.

Ed and Al's mouths hung open for a few moments, before they rolled on the floor laughing like mad. Al was banging his fist on the floor, tears of laughter rolled down his cheeks. Ed was staggering, trying to stand up as spasms of laughter shook his body as if he was being electrocuted. "Oh my Gate, Roy. Are you even _serious _when you said that crap..?" Ed coughed, still laughing as he returned to sit on the sofa.

"This is no joke, Fullmetal! I've been thinking if I should just ditched military and be a singer myself..." Roy mused as Ed and Al coughed and spluttered trying to hold back their laughter. "You know, being a singer means you'll always be popular with the ladies... I mean, just look at this Bieber kid..."

Suddenly, Riza entered the room, saving the two Elrics from further abuse of Roy's madness. They were shaking with laughter as Riza walked inside, bringing a stack of paperwork for Roy to do. She pursed her lips and narrowed her eyes as she recognised what music was blaring from the poor radio. "General, here's some paperwork for you to do," She said curtly. Whatever was in her mind, Ed could tell that Justin Bieber was definitely not to her liking.

Roy winked at the Elrics, as if saying, "Watch and learn, boys..."

"Oh, Riza... I don't know if I'm able to do these... I'm feeling really unwell today..." Roy sighed dramatically.

"You want me to call Armstrong here?" Riza asked with an unusually gentle tone; her hazel eyes pierced Roy's eyes like daggers. It was so very clear that Bieber's life lesson won't save Roy's life on this one.

Ed coughed and said, "Well, I guess it's time for us to leave, Al..."

"Oh, already?" Riza turned to us. "Have you talked to General yet?" She winked as she stared at the two grinning boys.

"Nah, I guess it's you who had talked him back to his senses, Riza-san," Al snickered. Riza blushed slightly, and she cleared her throat.

"So, you're leaving?" Riza asked while a small sad smile played on her lips.

"Well, yeah. But don't worry, we'll return. It's not like it's a goodbye. We'll meet again," Ed smiled. "But before we left..."

He walked to Roy's desk and dropped something to its surface. "I want to return this..." Ed started.

It was the State Alchemist watch the military gave him, a very long time ago. "I'm no longer a State Alchemist, so I guess I don't deserve this," Ed stated.

Roy stared at it for a moment and then he shook his head. He took the watch and handed it back to Ed. "No, take it, Fullmetal. Just consider it a loan that you have to take care until you've returned," He smiled slightly.

Ed stared at the watch he had just regained back and grinned. "Thanks," He said happily.

"Come on, Brother. The train to Resembool will be here in twenty minutes. We'd better hurry," Al said to his brother.

"Yeah, come on, Al," Ed turned to Al, before he turned back to Roy and Riza. "Now, Roy, you just focus on leading your people, okay? You might be the future Fuhrer, and it would be a disgrace to the people of Amestris if their Fuhrer is aspiring to be a crappy singer instead of working for the people's good," Ed snickered.

Ignoring Ed's jibe about his singing, Roy stood up and held his hand forward. "So I guess this is goodbye for now huh, Fullmetal? You take care of yourself okay? You too, Alphonse."

"And you, you take care of Riza, okay? It'll be a waste if you don't put all those life lessons into a good cause," Ed snickered as he shook Roy's hand, causing Riza's cheek to blush furiously.

"Brother..." Al smiled impatiently, snickering at Ed's last sentence.

"Yeah, Al. I'm coming!" Ed grinned and walked to the door, where Alphonse was waiting for him.

"So, bye guys! I'll see you again... Someday," Ed smiled slightly. He opened the door, and then the two boys stepped out, closing the door behind them. The song on the radio ended just as they got out.

Roy sighed, causing Riza to stare at him. "Something wrong, Sir?" She eyed him suspiciously.

"Say, Riza... Do you like Justin Bieber..?"

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**A/N: Okay, before you guys pummeled me because of this whole Justin Bieber stuff, just note that this idea was totally coming out of the blue. I neither loved nor hated him. I liked some of his songs, and hated some, so I'm neutral. And besides, I just thought it would be so cracktastic if Roy likes Justin Bieber. Anyway, thanks for reading! Reviews will be greatly appreciated! :D**

**Btw, this fic is set two years after the Promised Day, just before Ed and Al parted on their journey to research for alchemy.**


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